Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Book as Prop

The election heat is on! We see a litter of ads in a variety of formats inundate our daily lives.

If you ask me which campaign ad delivers the most impact, it has to be Gibo Teodoro's and Nonoy Aquino's videos. Quite recently, Teodoro's campaign ad caused a stir because it has Rico Blanco's Posible (Possible) as background music. Apparently, Blanco did not authorize the producers of the campaign ad to use his composition as campaign material. Could it be that Teodoro's campaign people did not ask permission from Blanco at all?

Posible (Possible).

I am not a lawyer. This incident, however, is an interesting issue to discuss copyright and intellectual property rights (IPR) among managers, creators and communicators of information. This is something librarians must be aware of as well. The many formats of information which they manage in the library are bound by law of the IPR and copyright.

Just the other night, I got a text message from Augie Rivera, scriptwriter and esteemed children's book author, on a similar concern. His book, Sa Ilalim ng Dagat, was used as props for Loren Legarda's Lingkod Campaign TVC. As we all know, well, inthis little nation of ours at the least, Ms. Legarda is running for Vice President this May 2010 elections.

I'm curious to know if Ms. Legarda has ever read Sa Ilalim ng Dagat before shooting the ad. I wonder if any of her campaign staff know the story as well. But the question is, shouldn't these people be responsible enough in observing and following copyright and IPR.

we all should be responsible in the observance of copyright and the IPR. above all else, there is a moral right to the laws we adhere to. is it too difficult to ask permission? should this be dismissed as a small thing, then it only goes to show that we, as a collective people, have indeed arrived at the thinning of our moral fiber.

anonymous - while it's good to give the benefit of the doubt to ms, legarda's team, or whoever put the ad together, would the author text me of his surprise that his book was used as prop? the author would have texted a message of joy and pride that his book was used in the commercial.

i don't know if you notice this when watching documentaries or news in TV, but i surely see shots of blurred names on products like soap, toothpaste, T-shirt. what does this mean? the station or show is not endorsing the brand. perhaps because, they did not ask permission from the makers of, say, colgate to appear in a documentary though it's merely a prop. or, the station/show would not want to be identified with the brand at all.